Quilting & Learning - What a Combo!: felt

Showing posts with label felt. Show all posts

Thursday, February 20, 2020

Free Motion Mavericks

Welcome to week 268 of Free Motion Mavericks.

Free Motion Mavericks

I've been pretty quiet on-line and off, just getting through these winter days. I can feel daylight lasting slightly longer, which is wonderful.

I did some meditation stitching. Here are my last three blocks.

This was an old t-shirt that was used as a cleaning rag. The last time that I dyed fabric, I still had dye left over, so I threw in a few extras. This one one of them. You can see the image of dried flowers from the original t-shirt design.

Impressions of dried flowers

I wasn't very happy with the piece I created for "Put a heart on it", Challenge 11-2 of Project Quilting, so while I was playing with scraps, I cut these two felt pieces into a heart shape and stitched them together. The felt and background are scraps from my Connections and Intersections piece, made for the Connected by a Thread challenge for the Out of the Box Fibre Artists Group. I really like this mini piece😊!

Mended heart

The velour fabric was also in that last batch of dyed fabrics. I made a couple of the chain stitched lines and then found this lovely Murano glass bead. It was fun adding these quiet chains to the piece.

Star light

What I learned

These little meditation stitched pieces are lovely to make. I never take more than a couple of minutes to grab what I need and start stitching.
I do get bored when doing the same stitch for long, so some of then, like Impressions of dried flowers take a couple of sessions to make. I don't start a new piece until the last one is finished.
I re-discovered my pinking sheers - they are so much fun 😊

Sunday, September 23, 2018

Blogger's Quilt Festival - Fall 2018

Welcome to the Blogger's Quilt Festival - Fall 2018 hosted by Amy Ellis of Amy's Creative Side.

Connections & Intersections

I've been working on this art quilt for months now, mostly a little bit at a time, until the deadline started looming over me! As much as I dislike that 8 letter word, it does help with motivation. 😊

If you read previous posts, you'll notice that I called it the "Connected by a thread" project, which was the theme for our fibre art pieces. This art quilt was created for the Out of the Box fiber art group's exhibition next summer. When I finished the piece and had attached a label without the title, it came to me - Connections and Intersections. Since the piece is abstract, you can decide for yourself what the title means! 😊😊😊

Connections and Intersections art quilt

I want to tell you a little about how I made this, why it ended up looking the way it does and what I learned.

I'll start at the beginning. When I want to create a piece to fit a theme, I almost never have a problem coming up with ideas. The issue is usually working through the ideas to see if I can pull them off in whatever time frame I have. My first ideas tend to be a little too complicated and at this time in my life, I just don't have a year to spend on one piece.

After discarding a couple of complex and more literal ideas, I decided on a few criteria:

Use my own hand-dyed fabrics;
Make it an abstract piece;
Try a few fun techniques;
Use my knowledge of design theory to put it all together in a cohesive piece.

The background

After picking out hand-dyed fabrics that worked well together, I sewed a few pieces together using improv piecing. Some of it worked and some of it didn't, but I knew that I would use them somewhere, eventually.

The bottom ruffle piece came about when I was trying to sew some of these improv pieces together using curves. In this instance, I overdid the curve, which came out like the sleeve of a garment - the ultimate curve! I decided to keep it and added some fabric underneath. That's how the piece became 3-D.

I finished the 3-D edge with a machine zigzag stitch and then attached little strips of cheesecloth on both sides of the edge. Over this I needle-felted some lovely brown, beige and green wool roving.

The layered circle on the right was created to try out some of Sue Spargo's embroidery techniques (see my first post in Related links below). It was made as a background for some beading.

Here's a picture of the finished 3-D part of the piece which reminds me of a cave. I added the little purple-grey piece that was beautifully frayed and then later embroidered the inside. Doesn't it look like a cozy place to hide out?

The finished "cave"

Woven fabric finished

I then added the woven piece. You can read more about this in my previous post (see Related links).

Woven fabric in progress

Later on, I embroidered along some of the lines to cut up the woven piece since my daughter said that it looked like an amoeba. Hopefully the final version looks less amoeba-like, although I guess there's nothing wrong with amoebas.

The bottom part of the piece

The first extensive stitching was done over the cave. I found some really beautiful variegated embroidery threads and played with straight-ish lines and circles to change it up.

Next I used some lovely wool that I corded on the side and above the cave.

I used a lovely navy wool thread that shows up well for the seed stitches on the purple fabric next to the cave.

Next came the improv beading to top the circles. I've heard of improv beading and seen some beautiful work by members of the Out of the Box group, but I had never done any. So through Google, I found Robin Atkins's blog - Beadlust, and a free downloadable copy of her first book, Exploring Creativity with Beads! This is the result of my first improv beading.

Improvisational beading

You can see also that I added a braided bracelet to accentuate the curving fabric changes. The bracelet was made by either my daughter or my niece. I've been wanting to create art pieces with these bracelets for a long time. I hope that this is the first of many!

Details of the woven pieces and the triangles

I used up the rest of the woven pieces by covering parts of them with felt and then adding an extra strip of needle felting from the cave between them. I finished the strip with French knots.

I also started adding wool felted triangles. I used different embroidery stitches to attach them and then embroidered around them.

Eventually I decided to just embroider triangles to add texture instead of adding more wool felt.

From the beginning I wanted to add the driftwood to this piece. The hard part was deciding where it should go. You can read more about this in "What I learned". It finally made it next to the beads, under the bracelet.

Details of the bracelet, improv beading and driftwood talisman

The idea of creating the driftwood talisman came together when I saw the cover of Quilting Arts Magazine (Issue 91). Victoria Gertenbach, the author of the article, had rocks, bones and shells embellished with embroidery and beads. I wanted to keep the driftwood simple but I added some fabric that I had used in the woven piece and beaded it using some amethysts pieces from one of my mother's necklaces. I added a feather charm for a simple dangling effect. You can also see more amethyst beads to the right of the circle.

Finally I finished the top of the piece with simple embroidered swirls in variegated thread.

Embroidered swirls

The quilt label is part of the improv piecing that didn't make it into the quilt.

Connections & Intersections' improv label

What I learned

After finishing Connections and Intersections, I was so wiped out that I have barely done anything since except read and sleep. Today I'm finally starting to feel like myself and started reading the many, many blog posts in my inbox. That's when I realised that the Bloggers Quilt Festival is on. Honestly that's how I learn about most of these events - by people who are participating. So thank you all for keeping me in the loop, when I finally get around to reading the blog posts I receive!
I almost always ask my kids for feedback on my work. It was so funny to get my son's feedback on this: "I don't know...what's it supposed to be?" I guess he's not the abstract art type! However, my daughter helped me a lot with the design process. Thanks!
As is becoming my habit, I used many photos of this ongoing piece to determine what would come next. This piece was very much an intuitive creation. Since it was abstract, there was no right or wrong, just my intuition, the design principles that I tried to apply and the many photocopies of the ongoing piece with marks and notes.
As I mentioned above, I knew that I wanted the driftwood on the piece but didn't make up my mind until almost the end as to where it would be. I thought that I wanted it at the top, but in the end, it would have made the piece too top heavy, so down it went.
I'm really grateful that this piece end up as well as it did because I have to admit that by the last weekend before it was due, I was so exhausted that I had a hard time with everything. It's probably a good thing in hindsight because it made me keep the driftwood and the embroidery on the top of the piece very, very simple - which is exactly what it needed 😊

Tuesday, June 05, 2018

June Beginnings

My life is overflowing with quilting, embroider, EPP and other fibre art projects. I love it, especially since there are no real deadlines. Here are some of the things I've been working on this week.

Connected by a Thread Art Quilt

The Out of the Box FibreArtist group has a challenge so that we can eventually create a body of art for an exhibition. It's really weird working on a piece for eventually. It's also really nice since I get to explore without a deadline.

Trying out some stitches on felt

The theme is Connected by a Thread and the size is 11" x 14". I had many ideas for this project, each one more complex than the last. I finally put a stop to all of that and decided to create an abstract piece (something I very rarely do) with my hand-dyed fabrics from last summer. I'll be incorporating a whole bunch of techniques that I'm presently learning 😊 It's going to be organic and improvisational (i.e. winging it!)

I'm only going to show you elements of it since it's got a long way to go. Eventually the task will be to make sure that it's cohesive.

The first image is a layered circle. I started with a circle of hand-dyed fabric cut with pinking shears. I layered the circle and embroidering it following some of Sue Spargo's techniques from her Craftsy class, Embroidery Texture & Dimension by Hand.

The layer on top of the fabric is green pre-felted wool, attached with a whip stitch. This layer is surrounded by Pekinese stitches in 2 shades of green embroidery floss. The next layer, a pink-beige pre-felted wool, is crowned with couched purple sheep curls. I haven't figured out what will go with the next purple felted circle.

Needle felted edge

I have a 3-D edge that needed to be finished. Over the zigzag stitch I attached little strips of cheesecloth on both sides of the edge. Over this I needle felted some lovely wool roving.

In this area, I cut some of the dyed fabric into strips and wove it together into a block. I didn't want to add the whole block so I backed it with fusible web, cut it into this shape and then stitched it to the background. Eventually I will be stitching around it.

Woven strips of hand-dyed fabric

I also practiced some of the stitches I learned on this piece of felt. There are fly stitches, tête de boeuf, closed fly stitches, more Pekinese stitches and attempts at a few crested chains.

Some practice stitching from Sue Spargo's class

Kingfisher Stitch-Along

The stitch along has started. I thought I had a few EPP flowers already made but my hexies had two rows while the pattern calls for only one row of hexies around the middle hexie. I'm not complaining since in the end it will be that much easier and faster to make.

These are potential flowers from my pile of already made hexies. The next step is to go into the stash and get different fabric, since these are the ones that I've been working with for the last year. Time for some new stuff! As you can guess, I haven't decided what to do about the middle hexie. I would like it to be roughly the same fabric or colour to unify the quilt.

Potential EPP flowers

I really like the look of low volume fabrics as a background to these colourful flowers. I'm not sure that I have much of that in my stash. I may have to check out some of my favourite shops! Oh shucks 😊

More colours for potential EPP flowers

This project will be my One Monthly Goal (OMG) for June. We are supposed to make 8 flowers per week. I'm not sure that's very realistic for me, so I'm aiming for 16 flowers by the end of June.

What I learned

I'm not really sure where I'm going with this art piece but ultimately what I would like is to make a cohesive piece that includes all kinds of different techniques that I'm learning.
I started with some improv piecing, didn't like parts of it so I just took the rotary cutter to it!
I have a few ideas but what I'm trying to figure out is when to quilt it. Since I want to add some found objects and do some beading, the quilting should probably be done before this.
I am loving the creative process and really trying to let myself be ok with not knowing how it's going to turn out. I'm just doing a minimum of planning as I go. I've been known to do this but it doesn't always work out. This time, it will!
I've only been on Instagram for a few months. I haven't really been hooked until I started looking at hexies through #kingfisherstitchalong. I have no idea why, but I love looking at the different combinations of fabric on participants' hexies. It makes my heart sing.😊
I'm glad that the EPP project involves lots of colour because my art quilt isn't as colourful as I would like.

Wednesday, June 08, 2016

Needle Felting Play Day

I learned to needle felt this weekend when I attended my first play day with the Out of the Box Fibre Artists. I learn a new technique, met some great people and best of all, I got to play!

Needle felting is very forgiving, which is something I look for in a technique (as in life!). It doesn't look like you imagined? Add more here and there, or just pull it apart.

In the morning we were introduced to the tools and materials used in needle felting. We each got two needles and a thick piece of foam to work on. We then chose materials to work on, different types of felt - synthetic, wool and other natural fabrics such linen to felt on.

My first felted piece - a little car (for a future project)

My first felted piece - a car-shaped cloud

I have a couple of ideas for some future quilting art pieces, so for my first try, I felted a car-shaped cloud. The wool roving will be perfect for making big fluffy clouds.

Of course, I just had to try my hand at making a landscape. That's why I mentioned the pulling apart! I had fun making it, and I did like some of the effects that I could do for the water, but take my word for it - it wasn't worth keeping.

After lunch I looked at what other participants were creating. Since we had been asked to bring a memento to work with, I saw many beautiful projects that incorporated jewelry of all kinds.

I knew that I wouldn't be keeping my landscape, so I made a felt piece using various felt pieces, hand-made paper, wool roving, tea-dyed cheese cloth, silk fibres, a feather pin and beads.

"The Feather" is a keeper!

I started by felting some wool rovings onto the cheese cloth and the grey felt. I knew that I wanted to use the hand-made paper, so I used colours that would compliment it. It's really amazing what a little bit of wool roving will do. I mixed a couple of the different colours and needle-punched them into the background.

I had brought some silk fibres that I wanted to incorporate into something. I just couched them onto the piece and added the beads. I didn't think about it at the time, but I guess that the nests go well with the feather and the airy cheesecloth.

Details of the felting on the cheese cloth with beads, silk fibres and feather

I basted the paper to the bottom felt piece, sewing the together where it wouldn't show. I then added the side beads and felted around them so that they look like they're in a nest.

The next day at home, I looked at my landscape again, pulled it apart and then made this cute flower on a piece of linen.

Beads in a nest of wool

I had to make a flower :-)

What I learned:

Playing is fun and if it's done without expectations, it's not a big deal to pull a piece apart (think Lego!)
When I create, I try not to think too much about what I'm doing. I may start out with an idea, but then I follow my instinct since the results are often better than listening to my overthinking mind.
I'm going to have to do some research on how to incorporate needle felting into my landscape quilt art. I know that it'll make amazing clouds but I'll have to figure out the rest.
I really like the results of my needle felting play day. The one drawback to making "The Feather" is that it won't look finished until it's framed. That's one step that I can gladly do without!
I doubt that I will get addicted to needle felting, but it's a great technique to add to my quilting.

I've done a little bit of research. If you're interested, here is a good, very basic tutorial on needle felting: "The Basics: How to Needle Felt (or Dry Felt)"by TLC Inspirations. Here is something a little more interesting to quilters who might want to embellishing with felting "Needle Felting Embellishments and Applique" by the National Quilters Circle.

You may also want to check out Felted Skies Studios. They sell landscape kits and have tutorials on YouTube. After watching parts of their tutorials, I figured out what went wrong with my landscape.

I was using too much wool roving - it really doesn't have to be thick, and it's best to add more as you go along.
You also have to think 3D - the background like water and sky can be thinner while the elements such as trees can be thicker and lay on top of the backing.

I will probably be using needle felting on my of my next art quilt projects - so come back to see it!

I've linked this post to the following Linky parties. Check them out!
Linky Tuesday with Freemotion by the River, Let's Bee Social with Sew Fresh Quilts, Design Board Monday at Bits n' Bobs, Main Crush Monday with Cooking Up Quilts, Needle and Thread Thursday with My Quilt Infatuation, Off the Wall Friday with Nina Marie, Fabric Frenzy Friday at Fort Worth Fabric Studio and Lessons Learned Linky with Quilting Mod.